Not Well

This morning Starner didn’t come in to work at all. My mate, Elmore, didn’t come in either, nor did his son. Among the contractors, that is to say, temps, I've seen many good, skilled shipfitters. But for some reason or other, no matter how solid they seem, you can’t depend on them to show up every day. Maybe that’s why they don’t hold permanent jobs. Not that the permanent yard workers don’t have plenty of problems. They have them all - - alcoholism, broken marriages and the burdens of child support, sometimes to more than one ex-wife, and of course, serious health problems for themselves and their spouses. On the subject of health, I've known very few shipyard workers who take care of themselves. Bad diet, smoking, failure to use protective equipment at work - - all of it. They have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions, breathing problems. I don’t know what the average age of shipyard workers is, but I’d guess it’s around 50. In any case, it’s an ageing workforce. It seems like every year somebody in our yard dies of heart attack.

A couple of weeks ago Kenny, a burner, was showing around a real estate agent’s flyer with a photo of a house up for sale. What’s this, I asked. He said it was the house of a worker on night shift - - a guy whose name I didn’t recognize, although I must have recognized him if I’d seen his face. This guy, Kenny said, had hung himself in that very house two years ago. Apparently he was despondent over his deteriorating health - - diabetes and other conditions. Kenny himself is about 50. He has long, unkempt hair and mustache, always seems to have gone several days without shaving, and looks like a very big sack of potatoes. He’s also a heavy smoker.

Many shipyard workers work all the overtime they can get to pay their bills - - sometimes necessary bills, sometimes frivolous spending - - $40,000 pickup trucks and the like. I know people who’d work 12 hours a day seven days a week if they could. They don’t seem to have any lives at all outside the yard. When they get older all they think about is retirement. But 6 months or a year after they retire many of them are dead. So what’s it all for?